1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, in general, to a flange for a fuel pump module and a manufacturing method thereof and, more particularly, to a flange for a fuel pump module and a manufacturing method thereof, in which a passage communicating a first valve seat with a second valve seat in the flange can be easily formed by inserting a passage forming piece in a mold during a process of manufacturing the flange.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a vehicle operated by an internal combustion engine using liquid fuel, such as a gasoline engine or a diesel engine, is provided with a fuel tank for storing fuel. In the vehicle, a fuel pump module is installed in the fuel tank to forcibly feed the fuel stored in the fuel tank to the internal combustion engine.
A conventional fuel pump module is shown in FIG. 1.
The fuel pump module comprises a flange assembly 1, which is securely mounted to a fuel tank, and a reservoir body assembly 2, which is connected to the flange assembly 1 by guide rods 3 at a location below the flange assembly 1 and includes a fuel filter and a fuel pump.
The flange assembly 1 comprises: a flange 10, which forms a flange body and includes a first valve seat 12, a second valve seat 13 and an outlet port 11, the outlet port 11 being connected to an internal combustion engine by a connection hose and thereby feeding fuel to the engine; a roll over valve (ROV) 15 provided in the first valve seat 12; and a fuel limit vent valve (FLVV) 16 provided in the second valve seat 13.
Here, the flange assembly 1 further includes a signal transmitting unit for transmitting electric signals to the fuel pump of the reservoir body assembly 2 and an on-board diagnostic (OBD) sensor for controlling the supply of fuel.
Typically, the fuel stored in the fuel tank or in the fuel pump module vaporizes and increases internal pressure of the fuel tank or the fuel pump module. The vapor gas of the fuel imposes ill-effects on the environment, so that particularly in North America, the amount of vapor gas vaporized from fuel into the atmosphere during the process of filling the fuel tank with the fuel has been regulated.
Therefore, in an effort to control the internal pressure of the fuel tank or the fuel pump module, both the roll over valve 15 and the fuel limit vent valve 16 are provided in the flange 10, with a canister being connected both to the roll over valve 15 and to the fuel limit vent valve 16 and purging the vapor gas to the internal combustion engine during operation of the engine or expelling part of the vapor gas.
Described in detail, the roll over valve 15 is provided in the first valve seat 12 of the flange 10 and connects the first valve seat 12 to the canister in response to a variation in the internal pressure, thus regulating the internal pressure both of the fuel pump module and of the fuel tank and preventing fuel from leaking out into the atmosphere in the event of a turnover accident in which the vehicle body is turned upside down.
The fuel limit vent valve 16 is provided in the second valve seat 13 of the flange 10, in which the second valve seat 13 communicates with the first valve seat 12, so that the fuel limit vent valve 16 becomes coupled to the roll over valve 15 and determines the amount of fuel to be filled in the fuel tank, and restrains the vapor gas.
In other words, to allow the roll over valve 15 and the fuel limit vent valve 16 to be coupled together, the first valve seat 12 must communicate with the second valve seat 13 by a passage 14. In order to form the passage 14 in the flange 10, the flange 10 was produced with a mold 20 that was inserted in one direction such that the mold 20 can connect the first valve seat 12 to the second valve seat 13, as shown in FIG. 2, so that an opening 14′ undesirably remains in the flange 10.
Therefore, it is necessary to close the opening 14′ after manufacturing the flange, so that a process for closing the opening must be added and an additional closing member must be used along with the requirement of cost and time consumption for preparing the closing member. For example, a cap may be used as a closing member for closing the opening. However, the cap may be responsible for fuel leaking or fuel gas leaking from the flange.